Denver isn&#8217t in the Manning-killer level of development yet. Even so - they did well agaist one of the best.

We have a brutal schedule for the next little while. Even so - I don&#8217t take this as an issue because we might - might - lose a few, but as an opportunity to see the areas that we have improved (this morning, Monday, Orton was 2nd in the league in yards and had a 97.4 QB rating, with over 66% completions and just shy of 500 yards in Sunday&#8217s game). There were problems - Perrish Cox, going against manning, woke up a much more seasoned player today - and there were great plays. We&#8217re going in the right direction - I&#8217m impressed with the degree of development. Go Broncos!

Posted by Doc Bear on 2010-09-28 02:45:11

Drew, you&#8217re most certainly not being a homer, or a Kool-Aid drinker, or even a glass-is-half-full person. This is simply being objective and logical.

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2010-09-27 01:09:17

This is refreshing&#8230I kept asking myself if I&#8217m simply being a delusional homer for actually feeling a little better about the Broncos after this one, so to read voices I respect articulating similar ideas makes this one sting even less. McD will get crucified, but you have to figure that he didn&#8217t count on Orton coming up with his worst play (horrible read and execution) of the season on the second 4th down gamble. I think he had to go for it when Maroney failed to get in.

Its fitting that another clutch and perfect throw by Manning stuck the fork in them again. That guy is simply amazing. But I thought the D was wildly improved, as was Orton&#8217s protection against a line that made NY look silly last week. This is a team that&#8217s just going to get better as the season goes on&#8230

Posted by Drewthorn on 2010-09-27 00:23:55

Losing today may still be a little frustrating, but watching Chargers and Raiders choke makes it all go down a lot easier. And anyone who thinks the Chiefs will run away with the division is wrong. Broncos need to hang tough til mid season and the make a run.

Posted by underdog on 2010-09-27 00:23:18

Great points, CB & UD

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2010-09-26 23:52:09

HA Janikowski just missed a 32-yarder to win the game for Jokeland. Instead, they lose to Arizona!

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2010-09-26 23:36:27

Disappointing, but the season is far from over or lost, and in the end, we are BRONCOS FANS! WIN OR LOSE!

We can hang in there with any team, and we did until the end of the 4th quarter. I am proud to be a Broncos fan, and I can&#8217t wait to see the end game not only of this season, but how we do in the future.

GO BRONCOS!

Posted by SpaceCowboy on 2010-09-26 23:33:29

I don&#8217t really see how someone can be upset with this game. If you came into it expecting a win, you weren&#8217t being that realistic. The defense was exceptional in the first half, but to expect any defense (even less ours) to shut down Peyton Manning all day long is also not realistic.

So, there were plenty of encouraging signs today. The offense was explosive, but clearly not perfect. Orton&#8217s INT was huge, and they couldn&#8217t get it done deep in Indy territory. But this passing attack is well beyond anything I ever expected this year. The defense really came to play today, and Perrish Cox was very good for much of the day.

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2010-09-26 23:29:15

My other eternal beef is the conflation of play-calling with execution. Poorly executed plays de facto become bad calls. Poor results in the running game become a terrible scheme, rather than the expected outcome of putting a sick ward on the field. It&#8217s just painful.

All that said, the special teams have taken me straight back to 2008. It&#8217s excruciating.

Posted by Chibronx on 2010-09-26 23:27:17

Seriously, Chi. I had to step out of there, need to not read the game threads there. I forget. &#8220Orton sucks,&#8221 &#8220McD sucks,&#8221 etc. Real cool heads. <img alt="wink" height="19" src="http://www.singernet.com/images/smileys/wink.gif" style="border:0;" width="19"> I agree, the passing attack looks killer. They had red zone failure today, which is a bummer, and I don&#8217t agree with McDaniels&#8217 decision to go for it instead of FG (tho it seems like it wouldn&#8217t have mattered), but what else did you want of either the offense or defense today, the game plan was otherwise fine. They made two bad turnovers, which you can&#8217t do against Manning, and had those red zone stalls. So it makes the loss more frustrating. But I&#8217ll take feeling hopeful about their future, over getting blown out (which is less frustrating, more hopeless.)

Touch sched, their running game still needs work, etc., but the way people scapegoat and flip their s&#8212t on MHR (or the DP) makes me frustrated.

Posted by underdog on 2010-09-26 23:21:26

Itchy trigger fingers over at MHR today. I haven&#8217t run the numbers on the 4th-and-goal, but I am suspicious. On the other hand, if the theory is &#8220our D&#8217s too tanked to stop the Colts anyway,&#8221 I get it.

Does it sound weird that this is the game that confirms to me the Broncos are headed in the right direction? All kinds of problems out there, but the passing attack is a killer. They&#8217ll straighten out the line and the special teams.